


And you realised it was your life, spelt out on every line

by wearethewitches



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Blood Magic, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Femslash, Gay For You, Magical Realism, Past Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Maleficent, Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-14
Updated: 2019-06-04
Packaged: 2020-03-04 21:38:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18821236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wearethewitches/pseuds/wearethewitches
Summary: “…you do know that Rumple is…one of those people, yes?” Regina says, leaning in and whispering in a conspiratorial manner to the princess. She wonders how close she can get, if the girl is one of those people herself.-or, Regina seduces Belle instead of telling her about True Love's Kiss and everything changes.





	1. Chapter 1

“…you do know that Rumple is…one of _those people_ , yes?” Regina says, leaning in and whispering in a conspiratorial manner to the princess. She wonders how close she can get, if the girl is _one of those people_ herself. Perhaps not, with how she moons over the Dark One, but Regina is either way inclined and it’s preposterous to think that in all the realms, she is unique.

Belle’s pretty blue eyes widen in confusion as Regina wonders how they’d look in the dark of her chamber. “I’m sorry?”

“You know,” Regina says on a single breath, pulling the other woman in tighter to her dress, beginning a slow seduction, “those that love others of their own sex. He hides it well, but I’m afraid it’s true. He gets all aflutter when that Captain Hook is around – he covers it up with anger. Unless he’s not aware himself, then he’s just in denial.”

“I’ve- I’ve never heard of such a thing,” Belle looks around wildly, anywhere but Regina. “People do this?”

“In secret,” she replies, pausing their little walk to reach up, twirling a mousy brown curl around her gloved finger, gently tugging Belle closer. “Those in _power_ get away with it easier, though. My ladies were always elevated after their times with me ended.”

“…are you propositioning me?” Belle startles, before Regina unsubtly presses their bodies together, humming lowly. Belle stares at her for a time, obviously conflicted.

_Is she like me after all?_

But the princess takes too long to reply and Regina is impatient, wanting this manipulation done with. She’s much less willing to wait for things, these days, not in her darkness and misery. The queen unravels her hand, delicately running her finger down Belle’s cheek – which becomes rosy as Belle shakes in her grasp – before taking her chin and guiding it, securing her lips against Belle’s jaw.

Then Regina whispers against her skin, casting a spell over her voice, “When you’re ready to leave his side, peer into a looking glass and say, _Mirror, show me the Queen._ ”

Belle shudders beneath her and when she draws away, Regina smirks upon seeing the dark red lips-shaped stain. Her hand lingers on Belle’s waist as she steps back, her blue eyes caught in the dark of Regina’s own. That same hand waves her coachmen back to their places as she turns her back on the Princess of Avonlea.

“Wait!” Belle stops her in her path and Regina twists her head back, silent. The other woman scrutinises her, before asking with a tilt of her head, “What is your name, Your Majesty? Shouldn’t I call that instead?”

_Oh, the rebellion in her!_

Regina watches Belle for a few quiet moments in stark silence before finally inclining her head. “Regina. My name is Regina.”

“I’m Belle. I hope we meet again, _Regina._ ”

* * *

Every time she hears it, Belle says her name. Every time, Regina answers, with only a small thought as to why.

Rumple knows something is going on. He questions where Belle goes, who she goes to see in the gardens of the Dark Castle – who bruises her pale shoulders with love-bites and marks that are shaped like lips. Only when Belle grows lax in her chores, both ordered and self-imposed, leaning against the wall to stare out of the windows, does Rumple finally visit his old protégé – Belle was no fool, she _did_ answer his questions.

“You’re seducing a fine young princess,” he scolds, “What have you got planned?”

“If I _had_ anything planned, do you think I would tell you?” Regina drawls, even as she herself wonders what she’s doing. “She’s a fancy and nicely endowed. I chose her because she belongs to you – it would be a shame, letting her grow old and decrepit without letting her taste _real_ power. Literally.”

She teases him, but she doesn’t tell him of their talks and chats that often interrupt graceless lovemaking – how Belle will tell her about a book she’s been reading and Regina genuinely listens, captivated by her voice and enthusiasm; how Regina will mutter about insipid courtiers vying for her favour and Belle will poke and prod, wanting to hear the intricacies of her court so she can give Regina advice – advice she _is_ appropriately learned enough to give, Regina will admit.

Sometimes, they even talk of magic. Not often though, because Regina refuses to talk of Rumple in her bed and gossip about Maleficent usually ends up with her showing Belle a trick with her tongue that Mal showed her first.

“Yes, she’s _mine,_ ” Rumple rolls his eyes, “so keep your claws off her. You have bigger schemes to focus on. How goes the hunt for Snow White?”

“Slowly,” Regina mutters. “She’s started a rebellion.”

And what a rebellion it is. Villagers all across the land are betraying her and Regina can _feel_ it, the magic tying her to her throne and the land swelling and shrinking. Blood magic is nasty business – but it had to be done, Regina had no choice. Leopold had thought nothing of taking her blood, that first night in his bed – but unlike monarchs of the past, Regina has magic. The moment he spilled her blood upon the white stone of the castle, Regina was bound and the king knew it, to his own horror.

Some people wonder why Snow hasn’t declared herself queen. Only Snow and Regina know that the blood is why. The kingdom will refuse to let her go unless she passes over her crown – through abdication or death. The magic doesn’t care.

With rebellion, the magic holding the kingdom together is becoming unstable. Her subjects don’t recognise her as the rightful queen because of Snow’s whispers, because of Snow’s lies. The princess doesn’t know the depths of how precarious a state their kingdom is in – the sooner Regina has her tried and executed for the supposed murder of her father, the sooner support would wane and Regina’s revenge found; the sooner the kingdom will settle into peace, again, with bountiful crops and lives for all.

Rumple, for all his giggles and games, doesn’t smile now. He can feel it too, powerful as he is.

“You need to focus, Your Majesty. Stop seeing Belle.”

Regina stops herself from snapping back. _Belle is good,_ she thinks, _a breath of fresh air. I refuse to give that up._

“Go,” she snarls instead. “Get out of my sight!”

Regina throws an empty goblet at him. He’s gone before it hits, falling to the ground with an echoing clang.

“I will not give her up,” Regina whispers to an empty room.


	2. Chapter 2

“What do you have against her, this step-daughter of yours?”

“She killed my first love,” Regina tells her, hand trailing a path down her lover’s bare flesh, causing goose-bumps to rise and Belle to shiver. “Her actions led me here, to become Queen of the Pale Kingdom. It is much a burden as it is a privilege.”

“You never wanted this,” Belle states and it is not a question. Regina nods in any case, distracted by thoughts of Daniel and her heartless mother. Belle takes her hand, squeezing it tightly before she leans forwards and kisses her. It’s soft – warm. Regina forgets the outside world and all its miseries, wholly focused on her beloved bookworm.

The kiss turns heated. She flips Belle beneath her and Regina makes her writhe, moans of pleasure escaping her pretty mouth.

“Scream for me,” Regina murmurs and Belle cries out, Regina’s name on her lips – which is when the doors to her chambers are slammed open, intruders stampeding into her quarters.

“Get her!”

Regina snaps to attention. Dark magic flows out from her like a whip, slashing outwards to leverage three against a wall. Beneath her, Belle moves frantically and it’s only when Regina twists around fully does she realise that Belle has stuck a dagger in the throat of a man by their bed. His eyes are wide, blood gurgling in his throat and bubbling at the corner of his mouth.

 _No, my darling, no_ \- Regina thinks, arms wrapping around her princess, whom she never wanted to see lose her innocence. Belle stares at the man, wide-eyed and Regina uses another bought of magic to push Snow White and her dwarves across the room.

“Belle, look at me – he was going to hurt us,” Regina whispers in a rush. Her hands are wet on Belle’s cheek and it’s sacrilegious, _blasphemous_ that their time together is so interrupted. Returning to her feet, Snow is staring at them and Regina can’t be embarrassed by her own nudity, not when her lover has killed for the first time. “Darling, _talk_ to me.”

“I killed him.”

“Yes, you did,” Regina cradles her face for as long as she dares, before reaching for their sheets, wrapping them around Belle’s shoulders. “I’m sending you home. Don’t call for me until I tell you it’s safe.”

“But Regina-”

Purple magic envelops Belle, whisking her lover away. Regina feels cold without her by her side, her chest aching and her anger rising.

Her voice is anger incarnate. “How _dare_ you? How _dare_ you come into my castle, into my quarters…” Regina leaves her bed, kicking at the body of the man Belle murdered. He’s no-one special and that makes it worse. Regina stalks over to her armoire, slipping on a robe with shaky arms. _Belle,_ she thinks, despairing. “You do not belong here, Snow.”

“This is my home,” the young woman argues, but she seems just as out of balance as the queen. “Who was that? A servant?”

“A princess,” Regina spits, dark eyes like knives as she glares at her step-daughter. They caught her off-guard, in a precious moment of ultimate weakness, but she is ready now. Though she suspects her Black Guard are dead and gone, unable to provide assistance, Regina is not just the Queen – she is a deadly sorceress. “You will not catch me by surprise again.”

Snow raises her chin, so defiant. “Did you kidnap her?”

“Not I. In fact, I am often her liberator,” Regina states and how can it be this easy, talking to the girl who ruined her life? “She made a deal with the Dark One, for her people. He’s kind to his friends. The princess and I have our own relationship to tend to.”

And Snow _softens_ , like she’s realising something and it’s making her heart bleed with emotion.

“You’ve fallen in love.”

Regina flinches.

“You have,” Snow continues, stepping towards her, to the worries of her companions and fellow vigilantes. “I can see it. Does she make you feel, Regina? Has she reignited that spark inside of you?”

“There was nothing to reignite,” Regina replies stiffly. “You speak out of place, Snow. My business is not yours to know.”

“I am the heir to this kingdom.”

“Not while I live – and I will, much longer than you,” Regina says, her truth clear. Snow swallows.

“Because of your magic?”

“It’s a natural thing. Magic is creation, no matter how dark. You shall be dead in your grave long before a single grey hair colours my head.”

“Can’t we come to an agreement? A truce?” Snow begs her and she is so close, now – close enough to take Regina’s hand and she _does_ , of course. Snow’s hands are rough now, proof of a life outside the walls of a castle. There are callouses Regina can’t hope to identify – scars she does not know the stories of. Snow has lived and it shows. Her step-daughter is no little girl, anymore. “Regina, _please_.”

“You got Daniel killed,” Regina says, but there is no vigour in her voice. Daniel’s death used to be the source of her righteous anger – the source of her hatred and what let her use _magic_. It startles her to realise that her grief is behind her, that it has been left in the dust of the years gone by. With Belle, she has unwillingly found distance. “I dislike you,” she tells Snow, realising this is over, “and I think I always will.”

A shine in Snow’s eyes dims, but there is no less love or compassion. “I know and I’m sorry.”

“Why do I believe you?” Regina laughs, then and it’s strangled – though not as tight as Snow’s embrace, her arms wrapped around her like rope. Regina does not hug her back, she cannot. “You still should not have come,” she whispers.

“Why?” Snow whispers back, voice full of teasing and joy. “So, you could have made your princess fall apart in private?”

Regina growls. “Minx.”

“Always,” Snow promises.


	3. Chapter 3

It is not a true treaty. Regina does not welcome Snow back with open arms, but nor does she keep up her hunt. The bounty is struck from the lists and a declaration is made, telling the people the culprit of King Leopold’s murder is unknown and lost. But the Kingdom is still unstable – the people still call for Snow White to be their queen.

“There is nothing I can do,” Regina says, adjusting the fit of Belle’s training gear. “Though, you could help.”

“I’m an indentured servant to the Dark One,” Belle replies with a roll of her eyes. “I won’t be your beacon of goodness, Regina. I can’t.”

“I wasn’t going to ask that,” Regina demurs, though they both know with Belle’s plan to adventure across the lands, Belle can always use Regina’s name as her shield – use her patronage as a weapon. _And speaking of weapons…_ “How goes sword-fighting?”

“I prefer books.”

“Don’t we all?” Regina steps closer, pressing up against her back. “You know,” she murmurs, “I’m surprised that Rumple would be so eager to let you go. What was your deal, again? Avonlea for eternal imprisonment? He is being awfully lenient to us both.”

“We’re friends,” Belle says, smiling somewhat, “though, at times I wonder about him. If you hadn’t lied about his leanings, I might have loved him.”

Regina stiffens.

Belle turns to face her. “I asked him about it. He said you’re a lying liar who lies and that he’s not in love with Captain Hook, just a little obsessed.”

“Same thing,” Regina mutters, feeling caught out. “Why stay?”

“Because I love you and I know you enjoy manipulation. Just don’t ever do it to me again,” Belle says, eyes hard. Regina nods and Belle presses a chaste kiss to her lips, kinder. “Please swear it, for my own peace of mind.”

“I swear,” Regina says, mellow. Her hand slips down Belle’s leather tunic and she itches to banish it, but Belle smiles and stops it going any further, clamping tight and entwining their fingers. Regina pouts. “ _Please,_ ” she mimics her lover.

“No. I have another session with your Black Guard. The General will tease if I don’t show up on time.”

“He’s my subordinate. I’ll order him to stop.”

“No, Regina,” Belle says, kissing her once more, deeper. When it ends, Belle pauses in thought. “Although…”

“What?” Regina asks, not expecting Belle to press her up against their bed, hand slipping up her skirt. She gasps in gleeful amusement. “Deviant!”

“Don’t come apart,” Belle orders her and the tension rackets up, Regina falling back onto the sheets as Belle moves her fingers in circles. “ _Don’t_ ,” she says sharply, every time Regina wants to let go. She teases and Regina writhes, fist slamming against pillows, forcing herself not to tip over like a house of cards. “ _Don’t let go_ ,” Belle says like a mantra and Regina is in tears when she sobs out Belle’s name.

“Please, let me- _please_ ,” Regina’s voice cracks and Belle’s hand crooks once, before abruptly retreating. Regina looks up hazily, then sharply, watching Belle fix her dress and step back. “What are you doing? You can’t leave me like _this_.”

“I can and I will. If you pleasure yourself, I’ll know,” Belle says, voice clear as she looks at Regina darkly, eyes glinting. It’s a challenge and Regina hates those – so her own hand reaches down and Belle grabs her wrist to stop her, leaning back over her body. “I’ll be back later to finish this. I love you.”

“I hate you,” Regina says mulishly, sitting up as Belle leaves, grabbing her practice sword from beside the door. Her body is on edge and she decides she will risk whatever punishment Belle sees fit, fingers pulling up her skirt. Her release is short-lived, compared to what Belle might have given her, but her immediate concerns are gone.

Watching over Belle is a past-time of hers in recent months, but for her lessons in defence, Regina entrusts her Black Guard to look out for her. She has no reason to watch as Belle sweats over her newest manoeuvre – as she is bruised and battered in search of a way to defend herself.

There is a rose on her vanity table. Sometimes, Regina can imagine she hears him screaming.

“Mirror,” she calls out, her genie in the glass appearing at her behest.

“ _My Queen,_ ” he says.

Regina smiles at him. “How fares the kingdom, my dear? What whispers have you heard?”

“ _Well…Maleficent has been disturbed, as of late. I see flashes of her weeping in silver, Your Majesty. She mourns._ ”

She frowns. “Oh? What happened, do you know?”

Her genie shakes his head. Regina banishes him from the vanity. “Useless,” she mutters, determined to visit her old lover and more importantly, her _friend._ What could have upset her so?

As it turns out, the _what_ is a _who_.

* * *

“I’ll cut her heart out with a blunt dagger and eat it,” Regina snarls. Maleficent lies on a thick rug in front of her fireplace as Regina sits in her usual chair, shaking with murderous rage. Shaky hands brush against shell shards. They’re as dark as Maleficent’s scales in dragon-form and hardened by flame. Shards of shell. Cracked shell – _broken_ shell.

“Snow cried for me. She brought my daughter’s egg back, said the Sorcerer’s Apprentice sent her away…”

“She is a naïve, blithering _idiot_ who will no doubt raise her own child to ruin,” Regina scratches her nails across the arm of her chair before lowering herself from the chair to the rug. She draws Maleficent up, cradling her tear-strewn face. “You could have told me. I would have helped defend you both.”

“I couldn’t ask that of you,” Maleficent murmurs. “Regina, we dragons are creatures of passion, but your fire is dark. Cruella and Ursula are in the wind. Snow says they fell, too, but they would not have – we both know them. They surely hide, so not to face my wrath. They are weak and you are not.”

“Dark fire, dark magic,” Regina says, quoting a Maleficent of the past, who would curl against her side and whisper the secrets of dragon magic against her skin as she fell to oblivion from the touch of her fingers. “You thought I would unduly influence your child.”

“Our child,” Maleficent says, like her words are not a warhammer’s blow to her chest. Regina finds herself hardly able to breathe. “It was never to be. She is gone from us both.”

“ _Our_ child,” Regina whispers and Maleficent presses a kiss to the corner of her mouth. Whatever she says is lost in a haze of loss and anger; it matters not, when Maleficent’s staff lays on the ground, the Dark Curse surrounded by the pink mist of a glass orb.

“I forgave,” she says, interrupting whatever Maleficent is saying. She looks to her dragon, thinking of what Belle might look like in the black armour of her Guard, riding on Maleficent’s back as they lay waste to Snow’s precious summer palace. “I forgave her. I willingly forgot our grievance. But Snow has once again taken what is mine- _ours_ ,” she corrects herself.

“Regina, no, don’t fall again to this same hate,” Maleficent pleads.

Her words are for naught.

_How could I have ever believed she’d changed one slightest bit?_


End file.
